Home Is Where The Heart Is
by Waffles95
Summary: Despite achieving so much in such a short time, Darth Aurelia never felt quite at home in the Empire. With Revanites on the rise, she will have to search for possible allies in the strangest places, just to put an end to a threat that is about to doom the entire galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

With a sigh she slumped down on a small couch next to her Holo-terminal throwing her datapad onto the coffee table. If anyone had warned her that the Dark Council meeting would be so stressful and exhausting, she would have considered twice before becoming a part of it. She enjoyed the power it came by being on the Council, however she hadn't signed up for all the arguments and pointless debates. There were handful of members that she actually considered tolerable others were as bad as Thanaton. His name still left her with a bitter taste in her mouth; however, his death did leave her with quite considerable power-base.

One of her first actions as a Darth was to purge all those that were still loyal to Thanaton starting with the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, she made sure that everyone working under her were loyal and weren't planning to stab her in the back as soon as an opportunity represented itself. She was never the one to be overly fascinated with dusty artifacts and tombs, but she took her work seriously. It was up to her too preserve mystical knowledge of the Sith, and guard the secrets of her order, those were one of the first words Darth Marr said to her as she accepted her seat on the council. She had to admit she found herself to be intrigued by possibilities that opened to her as she dispatched teams to work on several planets in the galaxy, which sadly now included Korriban as well. Devastating attack by the Jedi and the Republic required a thorough search in order to find what was taken. She was the single force that tore Korriban from Republic's hands, not that she had many good memories of the blasted place, but she couldn't leave it in the hands of the enemy.

Hearing her holo-terminal beep to life she groaned. Taking back the planet almost by herself wasn't easy and overseeing the repairs personally was tiring as well. She grumpily got back on her feet and answered the call.

"Finally! I thought you will leave me waiting for another day, Lia."

"Zane..." Aurelia sighed not bothering to sound more enthusiastic.

"Awwh, is that how you greet your favorite brother?" he grinned light heartedly which only made her roll her grey eyes,

"You are my brother, but I have never said you were my favorite one."

"Touché. I wish this was a social call but it's far from that."

Aurelia grimaced rubbing her temples. There was always someone that needed more from her, no matter her position or titles that came with it,

"What do you need me to do?"

"It has to do with Incursion of Korriban amongst other things, so I thought you would be interested."

That did catch her attention. Her eyes immediately snapped up to look at her brother,

"I am listening."

"I thought it was fair to include you in the loop especially since we all have to thank you for reclaiming Korriban. Darth Arkous lied to you just as he lied to me in his motives when we assaulted Tython."

Darth Aurelia scratched her chin looking thoughtful for few moments before saying,

"Just as I thought, he seemed too elusive and deliberate with his praise. I was right, he was hiding something and whatever that something is I am not comfortable with it at all."

He nodded looking grim even over holo-transmition,

"It's worrisome to say the least. I thought about consulting father about the whole situation but I can imagine he won't be as flexible as you are…"

"How thoughtful of you" she replied with slight hit of sarcasm in her tone of voice.

"I wish I was teasing you Lia, but I am serious. Father will want certain prof before getting involved, especially considering who our allies are."

Titling her head slightly to the side she frowned,

"I wasn't aware of any potential allies; I thought you were on some solo-man quest?"

"This is too big even for you, sister, to take on alone" he chuckled before his serious tone returned "Few members of Republic managed to connect the dots as well, their Colonel Rian Darok and Darth Arkous planned both assaults too carefully for it to be a coincidence, they happened almost precisely on exact time. Commander of Havoc Squad, Jedi and an SIS Agent were part of the original strike team on Korriban, just as I was for Thython. Lana somehow came into contact with the SIS Agent and this is how a new operation was born…"

Aurelia spent few seconds staring at her brother with strange look on her face. Her mind wasn't able to figure out how anyone of them survived long enough to form any sort of an alliance. They had been at war for so long that they were beyond talks about peace, the hatred was something ordinary… one was bound to destroy the other. Blinking those thoughts away she said slowly,

"I can see why you decided not to bring the matter to father. He would simply insist for you to dispose of any Republic members, had you not possessed enough prof that there is a bigger threat out there."

"I believe we have too little to convince our father all we are certain of is that Arkous and Darok are working together and that ancient Rakata artifacts were stolen from both Sith and Jedi. I would feel considerably more comfortable if you decided to help as well, and you are one of the most informed people I know when it comes to artifacts."

Darth Aurelia suppressed a sigh. Her brother was asking a lot of her, she was supposed to work with a Jedi… and other Republic goons. If Dark Council found out, she would have to have a strong reason to do so, not to be seen as a traitor to the Empire. That was without taking her own feelings into account when it came to Republic. In general; however, something gave her a feeling that her presence was needed there more than on Korriban its reconstruction progress.

"I believe you want me to cover your back if this little Alliance blows up in your face as well…" she inquired with slow and clear tone.

"That is one other reason yes" he confirmed with a short nod, after quickly looking over his shoulder "I do not have much time, we will begin with planning a strike on the research facility soon. We believe it will give us more information as to why they need those artifacts and what they plan to do with them. I have already sent you the coordinates to our temporary base, though nobody knows you will be arriving…"

She grinned with a soft spark igniting in her eyes,

"Wonderful, at least I will be able to have a little fun, since I will probably be too late to be any help in breaking into that research facility. Will Lex be joining us as well?"

"Brother dear got sent to an important need-to-know agent mission so believe he will be gone for quite some time" Zane answered before he stepped towards the holo "I have to go now, but I believe I will be seeing you in few hours."

"You shall."


	2. Chapter 2

Theron had done some crazy things in his life but he had never imagined he would one day be working with the Sith Empire to help uncover and deal with a plot everyone else, except handful of people, wanted to ignore. It was the first time in his life that he was in a presence of a Sith that hadn't tried to kill him or the other way around. He had to admit that Lana and Lord Wrath were less tense than he had expected. Not too overly focused on who they were working with but what their goal was, the same couldn't be said for his part of the team, Jedi Knight and the Commander seemed reluctant at first and he could still see they were struggling with the idea of working with the two Sith.

Somewhere at the back of his mind he heard Lana give directions to the strike team over comms. They had just successfully befriended a wookie Jakarro and his droid friend, but they still had to find out what exactly Gorima was working on. What happened next almost made his heart stop. One second he was going over the data relevant to the mission and the next, he heard a soft drawl coming from behind him,

"Now… what do we have here?"

It was needless to say both him and Lana spun around drawing their weapons, expecting to encounter an enemy. All what Theron saw was a woman leaning on the wall next to the entrance with her hands crossed on her chest her delicate fingers rhythmically tapping her forearm. He was unable to see her face clearly because she had her hood pulled up and its shadows covering most of it. Only one long lock of red hair had managed escaped from under it. She wore a simple black tunic that looked like it wouldn't offer any protection. It reached somewhere mid her thighs. Under it she wore close fitting pants at looked to be made from slightly durable and protective materials.

"Darth No…" Lana started wearily lowering her weapon while Theron still had his gun aimed at her. The newcomer didn't give Lana a chance to finish her sentence before she abruptly interrupted her,

"Do not call me that. I don't go by that name and it would wise for you to remember." Her words were slightly harsher and only then Theron realized that the woman before was a Darth, and quite possibly a member of a Dark Council as well, and one of the most influential people in the whole Empire. His stomach twisted and his first thoughts were that Empire was on to their little alliance. What confirmed his suspicions was that Lana seemed equally baffled by the Darth's presence,

"Apologies, my Lord. I wasn't informed. How…"

"How should you call me?" Darth supplied the question Lana was about to ask before answering with the same lazy drawl as before. Had it not been for the fact that she was a Darth her voice would have sounded quite pleasant, "I suppose Darth Aurelia would do if you are keen on titles, if no I can live with only Aurelia, but I would much appreciate if you would stop aiming your weapons at me"

He could feel her eyes on him now even though he couldn't see her face clearly. Lana still seemed unsure at what to make of her but she motioned to Theron to lower his weapon, which he reluctantly did. He was far from comfortable with whole situation.

"We weren't expecting any visitors" Lana started slowly cautious of the words she was choosing "Especially not from the Dark Council, my Lord."

She moved her head slightly so that her face, nose down were not hidden by shadows anymore. Before she replied to Lana he could she a faint smirk resting on her lips,

"Maybe you should have. I was the one that retook Korriban after Republic had its dirty paws on it." Once again Theron felt her gaze on him "Which is I assume pretty boy's doing?"

Her words sounded light-hearted, but he chose to ignore her remark about his looks when he responded with confident tone staring directly where her eyes would be had they been visible,

"I did have considerable part in planning the mission, but bitterness over the fact we took it from you is slightly hypocritical. Empire did the same thing to Tython."

"Oh... it seems that I have been misunderstood. It was not my intent to judge, I was merely admiring your success despite how short lived it might have been." She answered with what seemed to be somewhat sincere tone. When she was done she pushed herself of the wall and walked towards them slowly "One fact however that is still bothering me is that one my artifacts was stolen in the process and rather nasty one at that."

There was slight panic rising in his throat. He sent a side glance to Lana to see what she was making of situation which was anything but comforting. Lana seemed equally panicked despite Darth Aurelia never drawing her weapon or even doing anything that would seem remotely hostile.

"Forgive us my Lord, but we don't have your artifact…" Lana started explaining hastily only to be cut off again,

"But you know who does"

It wasn't a question. She was in arms reach from him now and he desperately tried not to stare at the hilt of her lightsaber tucked half under her tunic.

"Yes… we do" Lana stammered the words out carefully, which made Darth Aurelia smirk again. She raised her hands and pulled off her hood releasing her long red hair to fall freely over her shoulders. When she looked up again her, surprisingly crystal grey eyes, gazed directly into Theron's brown ones,

"Excellent. In that case I am here to offer my assistance in your little alliance."

It was hard to say to say who was more surprised by her words. Somehow she knew about their alliance and what exactly they were trying to do. Neither option sounded reassuring, he thought they were being careful enough but obviously not.

"You know about our agreement?" he blurted out his question at the same time as Lana asked,

"You want to help us?"

She nodded while sitting down on the edge of the table opposite of Theron,

"That would be yes to both of your questions. While I don't usually work with Republic" her unsettling eyes rested on Theron once again before moving to Lana "I was convinced that there is something bigger behind this bigger than few stolen artifacts."

"You were convinced?" Theron asked with raised voice. That didn't sound good at all. She moved her attention to him. There was something about her eyes that prevented him to look away. He had a feeling he could never get bored of gazing into them, just as that thought crossed his mind he angrily blinked it away feeling slightly disgusted to be even having such thoughts about a Sith.

"Awwh, you are worried about your spy skills thingies" she cooed sounding rather amused with the discovery "how cute is that."

"I believe you might be the only one to find it cute" he muttered in response shaking his head while she shrugged "Those 'spy skills thingies' is what kept us rather secure and safe so far so if there is any trail we left behind, I do believe we have every reason to worry."

Aurelia lazily waved her hand through the air to dismiss his statement before saying,

"No reason to worry just yet. As far as I know you covered your tracks pretty well. It was Zane that wanted me to assist you. He thought I deserved an explanation after what happened on Korriban. Neither Dark Council doesn't know where I am, nor do any of my crew."

"Lord Wrath called you? When?" Lana asked frowning at what was just explained to her. Aurelia looked thoughtful for a moment before answering,

"That would be few hours ago, he also felt like he needed somebody to bail him out if this all blows up in your faces, besides you need somebody to save your agent's pretty face as well if that happens, or where you just planning to throw them to the wolfs?"

Lana's frown deepened, Theron assumed that she was still displeased about having Darth Aurelia participate in the mission. To him it didn't matter much, it was one Sith more. That fact didn't change what they were up against and one Sith more probably meant getting the mission done faster.

"I wasn't planning to do that…now if you don't' mind I have a mission to focus on" she remarked before turning her back to Aurelia and focus on the members of a strike team.

"Is it just me or she really doesn't like the fact that I am here?" her question was directed at him. He didn't have to look at her to know she was looking at him with those unnerving grey eyes.

"It's not just you" he reassured her with a sigh "However if it helps, any willing ally is welcomed right now. One Sith more doesn't change anything."

"You may be right but you were wrong on one little thing. One Sith could change everything if that Sith happened to be me."

"Are you always so self-centered?" he asked unsure whether to be amused or annoyed by her comments. All he got in response was,

"Only sometimes. Now would you mind bringing me up to speed and describe the exact artifact that was stolen? I might know more about it than Lana does. That is if I had managed to find the time to properly research it that is."

He obliged her and told her everything that had happened so far. When she was on the same page as the rest of the team they listened to Lana as she led the strike team through the comm system. It was slightly displeasing that Arkous and Darok got away and all the talk about cyborg infinite army made all the hair on the back of Aurelia's neck stand up.

"Revan?" Aurelia repeated with disbelieve present in her voice. She jumped on her feet trying to process the information they received from the strike team as Lana was busy securing them a shuttle out of a sinking research station.

"You heard of him before?" Theron asked the pacing Darth. She stopped for a moment to nod at him and then resume her slow pacing up and down the room. He wasn't sure what had her so distressed, his first suggestion would be that she was concerned about Lord Wrath.

"I had a run in with The Revanites. They still have considerable presence near Kaas City. As an apprentice I was almost recruited into the order, but at the time it all seemed like nonsense rubbish. I had no idea it was happing on scale as large as this… not to mention so close to the heart of Empire itself. This is more than troubling, but we still have too little evidence to…"

She left her words hang in the air. Theron waited for few moments wanting her to continue but when she hadn't he asked carefully,

"Too little evidence for what exactly?"

"Hmm? It doesn't matter right now. We can discuss it once strike team is back, but whatever they plan to do with that Army I am sure it involves destruction of both Empire and the Republic."

Theron glanced at her; he was surprised how her casual demeanor changed into something more focused and colder at the same time, relaxed and warm aura from before was completely gone. Even when she first showed up she didn't seem threatening, however, now he was able to imagine her better as a Sith he was raised to hate.

She hadn't said anything else and she seemed focused on her own thoughts, which gave him plenty of time to observe her, thinking she couldn't see him or wasn't aware. He didn't get a chance to observe a Darth so up close without fear of imminent death. The best conclusion he could come up with was that she seemed human, maybe even more so than Lana, despite her cold and focused demeanor.

Once the strike team was safely aboard the shuttle Lana had informed them about the newest member of their team. Theron was not surprised, when he heard a subtle groan in Ainelly's voice. Being a Jedi, she wasn't particularly fond of Sith to begin with and while there was a Darth involved it usually signaled trouble.

Ainelly and Kia were the first ones to walk through the entrance looking worn out. Closely behind, Emperor's Warth came strolling in with smile on his face, which grew wider at the sight of Aurelia. Before anyone had a chance to say anything he called to her,

"Little sister, at last. You were a little too late to be able to join the party, sadly."

Theron's eyebrows shot up at the mention of the word sister. He looked at one to the other trying to find similarities. He hadn't been the only that was surprised by the sudden revelation, if the siblings noticed that they didn't seem to bother explaining themselves. Aurelia stopped her pacing near Theron as she responded,

"That's too bad, but I was able to entertain myself from here so it wasn't a complete waste."

Wrath looked from Theron to Lana looking slightly apologetic before asking,

"She wasn't much of a trouble was she?"

"I am offended you even have to ask" Aurelia fake sighed. Lana rolled her eyes, however she did look like she finally accepted the fact that Aurelia was here to stay,

"She wasn't but it would have been fair if we received a warning. Theron and I almost suffered a heart attack."

Judging by the grin on Aurelia's face, that was what she was aiming for when she first arrived to Manaan. Theron cleared his throat to get everyone's attention,

"Now if we can move on to more pressing matters. Between Aurelia, Lana and I we were able to guess where Arkous and Darok are headed next. We believe they are trying to build the infinite army on Rakata Prime, with the help of Star Forge…"


	3. Chapter 3

"So is everyone on board with the plan" Lana asked over the comm with Theron at her side. They were both gazing at the screen monitoring their strike team which consisted of Ainelly, Kia and Aurelia. Wrath was called away at the last second by Darth Marr but promised to assist once the issue was dealt with.

 _"Yes, destroy factories, prevent them from making the infinite army and kill the traitors"_ Aurelia answered with a drawl. Ainelly could be heard sighing deeply behind her as she corrected her,

 _"The objective is to capture the traitors. We have much to learn from them."_

 _"If it comes down to my life or their Jedi, I am killing them."_

 _"I suppose that's reasonable…"_ Kia agreed before another fight erupted. Despite knowing Aurelia for a short time he could imagine her flashing a smirk towards a grim looking Jedi. Frowning at himself for even having such thoughts he spoke to them over comm,

"Alright, so can the mission begin now?"

He was sure he heard a muffled 'finally' before the comms were temporarily muted. He didn't have to guess who said it; because he was fairly sure it was Aurelia. He still had hard time figuring her out, at times she seemed like she tried to flirt with him, and then the next time she was solely focused on completing the mission. He wasn't sure what she was trying to achieve by making him a target of her flirty remarks. Maybe she was trying to see how he'd react to it. He wasn't sure.

"What do you think about all of this?" he directed his question to Lana who was sitting next to him. She gave him a shrug before saying,

"About the mission or about the team?"

"Both."

"I think the mission has more than reasonable chances of success. Ainelly and Kia already have experience when it comes working together and as for Darth Aurelia, she may seem like she takes things too easily sometimes but, from what I heard once she is on a mission she sees it through the end and doesn't underestimate her opponents. There must be something to her, she climbed the ranks of Sith Order in less than four years and if there is any reason to doubt her judgment I believe Ainelly and Kia can hold her back. Maybe not as well as Zane could have, but I still see no reason to worry."

Theron nodded satisfied with her judgment. Now it was not the time to be picky with their allies and so far they had been successful. Leaning back in his chair he placed his feet on the console earing a quick glare from Lana. Ignoring it he pondered,

"I am sure that Arkous and Darok aren't working alone. Despite everything all their moves seemed to be planned almost too perfectly. There has to be someone else behind this."

"If there is, I am hoping this operation will reveal it."

"As am I" he admitted as the cockpit fell into comfortable silence apart from occasional remarks on the team's progress. Theron had to admit that there was some truth to Aurelia's claim that she could make a difference. He had seen Wrath fight, mostly with his brutal physical strength, calling on the force to make his attacks stronger, but when it came down to her, he realized that she based most of her power solely on her aptitude with the force, rarely bothering to let enemies come close enough to have a taste of her lightsaber. Was it odd to say that he was slightly impressed?

There was another argument as the team reached the cyborg recruitment center. Lana desperately tried to keep the cyborg technology intact while Theron was feeling quite the opposite. He shuddered to think what Empire would have done with that kind of technology. It all came down to Aurelia, who lost her patience,

 _"You fight like little children, there is much more at stake than your petty squabbles"_ she growled into her comm just before she shot a wave of lightning into the controls essentially overloading it and the cyborgs as well, frying them all into a crisp _"There, that should end your pointless argument. Can we continue now?"_

Her voice was quiet and she sounded annoyed. Lana pursed her lips together trying not to spat something back at the fellow Sith, while Ainelly and Kia seemed mostly surprised only voicing short replies agreeing to resume the mission.

Surprisingly it didn't take them that long to become somewhat of a team and even watching each other's backs, despite being on the opposite sides of the war. Together they had successfully destroyed all the factories and regretfully made sure that their faces were the last ones Arkous and Darok saw. Both of them had fought to the bitter end.

* * *

Note:

I am sorry this one is a bit short. Next one is going to be a bit longer I promise.

Thank you those that took the time to read, follow, favorite and review. It means a lot to me and I hope you enjoyed.

Let me know what you think :)


	4. Chapter 4

"Revan…" Aurelia breathed as a Holo of Revan towered over them. She instinctively took few steps back her shoulders brushing against Kia and Ainelly on each side.

"As important Arkous and Darok were to our cause their deaths won't stop us. They won't even slow us down"

"That voice I heard it before…" she heard Theron speak in the comm. She could hear barely hidden emotion behind his voice.

"I almost had an infinite army I wanted to badly. But even without them, I have enough."

"And you called me egotistical" Aurelia commented on Revan's words referring to what Theron said to her on Manaan then she spoke with clearer voice, "If you think you can take on the Empire you are in for a rude awakening. There is no possible way for you to succeed."

"I know all about rude awakenings, and I refuse to suffer through one again. I've been reborn. My mind is clearer, my power intensified. And now, with order under my command, I am unstoppable."

Aurelia snorted, "What were you saying about my ego again Theron?"

"You are never going to let me live that one down will you?" he replied with mock defeated tone. Aurelia was about to chime in something else but then Revan cut her off,

"Enough! I have let Revanites in my world- a new world from which you will have to be erased from" after that his transmission flickered and disappeared. After few second of silence all three of them were able to hear Theron's panicked voice,

"Turbolasers are locking on…! Get out of there now! We can't reach you with Jakarro's ship. You will have to take one of the shuttles!" after that their communication was cut short.

First blast struck only few feet from them making Kia, who was the closest to the blast stumble over. Without thinking Aurelia reached forward pulling the solider back on her feet.

"Thanks…" Kia breathed with wide eyes making the Darth sake her head,

"It was nothing, come on let's get moving. That's if you want to stay alive."

"Smart idea" Ainelly agreed following Kia and Aurelia as they moved towards the shuttle. Just before she was about to reach them another blast sent her flying backwards preventing her from boarding the shuttle with her fellow team members.

"Nelly!" Kia called from her seat. She was already behind the controls and she couldn't leave the seat if any of them wanted to make it out alive. Aurelia glanced at her before instructing,

"Keep the shuttle hovering" then she jumped out and ran towards the Jedi helping her stand up "Come on Jedi, you have to move faster."

After she half dragged her back to the shuttle and helped her climb aboard she could hear a smaller ship approaching them from behind, before she had a chance to react it fired a volley of shots aimed directly at her. She desperately tried to climb in the shuttle before she was hit but she wasn't fast enough. She could feel few bullets collide with her left side making her clench her teeth in pain.

Rolling into the shuttle she saw, Ainelly who recovered from the hard impact with the ground close the door and called out to Kia,

"Go! Get us out of here now!"

"Plotting a course to Manaan now."

Trying not to clutch at her throbbing side Aurelia pressed her right hand against the wall in order to support the weight of her body. She took few deep breaths trying to control her body and not show any weakness. She clenched her trembling fingers on her left palm into a fist her nails sinking deep in the surface of her skin.

"Why would you help me?" Ainelly asked from her position on the floor. She had collapsed there moments before from pure exhaustion from the mission. Still relaying on the wall to support her, Aurelia glanced at the worn out Jedi saying,

"My reasons are far more selfish than yours would have been if the situation was reversed" Jedi raised her eyebrow wanting her to clarify. Rolling her grey eyes Aurelia added, "Saving someone's life tends to help when you are trying to get them to trust you. If we have any chance of stopping Revan we will have to work together, besides Theron was right, we don't really have the luxury to choose our allies right now. Nobody will believe us that Revan is trying to destroy Republic and the Empire…"

She tried to move into more comfortable position, but the pain on her side stopped her. Frowning with displeasure she let her body slide alongside the wall hoping that pain will lessen if she sat down. Luckily the Jedi didn't seem to notice that she was in pain… at least not yet.

"I suppose you are right" Ainelly sighed rubbing her temples "Despite being so high in the order I doubt they will take me seriously even though I was the one that struck down the Emperor."

Her eyes widened as she realized what she had just admitted to a Sith. Her gaze snapped back to Aurelia concern clearly present in her look worrying what the Sith opposite of her might do. Aurelia only raised one of her eyebrows slightly impressed by the Jedi,

"Don't look so frightened, Emperor wasn't an essential part of the Empire for a while now, besides Marr and I believe he isn't dead…"

"How is that possible? I collapsed a whole temple on that monster!"

"You destroyed his body but not his sprit, or so Darth Marr believes, but only time will tell what really happened. If you ask me we are better off without him, Empire has been run only by the Dark Council for a long time. Maybe it's time for a new emperor…"

Her voice drifted away as she pondered on that thought. More she thought about it, more attractive the idea became. Having an Empire of her own… that sounded like a lot of fun.

"With you as the Empress maybe there is still a chance for peace" Jedi smiled weakly making Aurelia laugh before responding,

"You don't even know me Jedi, I… I have done some pretty despicable things and I would have done them again in a heartbeat and probably will in the future."

"That may be so but you are still reasonable. You aren't blinded by anger or pure ambition for more power like most Sith I have encountered. Speaking about hypothetical peace, it would benefit you more than war; we both know that that neither Republic nor Empire are as strong as they claim to be… that's why this war seems to have no end."

Resting her head on the wall, Aurelia considered what Jedi said. It didn't take her long to realize that she was right in a way. Peace would help the Empire grow so maybe one day they will be able to achieve decisive victory over the Republic, but with how things were now, victory was nowhere near in sight.

Jedi seemed like she didn't need a reply because the shuttle was engulfed by silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable one because they all were lost in their thoughts. Aurelia was struggling to keep herself from drifting away, sleep was almost too tempting salvation from the pain, but she couldn't risk it. Despite trusting the Jedi and the Commander to some point she was still not ready to trust them with her life.

She spent all the way to Manaan recovering her strength trying to figure out who she will have to intimidate on the surface to patch her up because she was sure she wasn't making a trip to the Fleet by herself. She was glad she decided to wear black robes which tend to hide any blood stains. Carefully moving her hand to her left side her fingers came into contact with her sticky blood. Cursing under her breath she wiped her hand into her pants. She wondered how much blood she had lost before sending a short glare to the Jedi resting close to her. If she hadn't gotten knocked back none of this would have happened.

"We should be landing on Manaan in few minutes, so you better get ready. I am guessing Lana and Theron are already expecting us." Kia said from her seat before focusing on the Shuttle again, pressing all the necessary buttons to land the shuttle safely. Aurelia and Ainelly both carefully pulled themselves off the floor ready to get the briefing over with.

Aurelia straightened her robes making sure that no blood was visible then she patiently waited for the shuttle to stop moving and followed the Jedi towards Lana and Theron, who were waiting in their temporary control room.

As they walked into the room, Theron and Lana were busy working out information they managed to gather from the factories. Lana lifted her gaze first,

"Good you are back."

"I wasn't sure you had enough time to make it out…" Theron added his glance lingering on Aurelia's face for a moment. Despite the pain she was in she managed to smirk,

"Is it just me or you are actually somewhat infatuated with me?"

"Who me?" Theron responded quickly with disbelieving tone. He sounded like he had hard time imagining the sole thought "Paah. Never. Who even uses the word 'infatuated' anymore anyway?"

"Believe me…" she started responding when a sudden wave of lightheadedness washed over her taking all the breath away. All the words she wanted to say vanished from her head leaving it empty as the room started to spin.

Before her limp body hit the floor Ainelly managed to catch her, being closest to her looking concerned. Theron glanced at Lana unsure what to do next. He never expected that the only people in the room that actually looked close to being concerned were Ainelly and Kia who was already kneeling next to the unconscious Sith.

"Do you have any idea what's wrong with her" the Jedi asked. Lana muttered something about looking through new potential hideouts before leaving the room. Being raised to help people in need, he stepped closer offering,

"Wait; let me lift her up on the table. You should be able to scan her better there" he told Kia as he pushed all the data pads off the nearest table before leaning down and scooping the Sith of the floor and placing her on the table as gently as he could, leaving Kia to run basic diagnostic scans. Turning towards Ainelly he asked,

"What happened out there?"

"She didn't seem like there was anything wrong. I never saw her get injured… maybe…" she stopped talking looking thoughtful "We were trying to make our way towards the shuttle, when I got knocked back by blast and my head colliding with the ground. They were already on board the shuttle and could have left me behind, but Aurelia jumped down to drag me on board. If I had to guess I would say she got hit by a smaller ship that passed by just before she jumped in the shuttle as well."

"I think you are right" Kia nodded putting her scanner back into her pocket "This amount of blood lost added to the exhaustion from the mission was too much for her body. She is stable and I had already administered few stims which will make sure she gets to the nearest kolto tank."

Theron nodded his eyes studying unconscious Sith's face. He thought she couldn't get paler than she already was but he was wrong. Seeing her like thinks he had hard time remembering who she really was. Her suggestion that he was infatuated with her was still eating him. Of course, she was wrong, he would never have a thing for a Sith…

"I never thought I would ever be helping a Sith…" Kia muttered under her breath putting all her medical supplies in her pocket.

"Since the matter has been dealt with maybe we can bring them up to speed now" Lana spoke drawing attention of everyone in the room to herself "Our objective on Rakata Prime was successfully terminated and Infinite army destroyed. Revan has already been busy, he made sure neither Theron nor I can reach out for more support. We are being hunted by Republic and the Empire respectively, but they couldn't touch you yet as far as we know."

"We could come with you and help?" Kia offered sounding more than slightly concerned. Lana shook her head with small smile,

"That wouldn't benefit anyone. It is your job to keep your ears and eyes open. Revanites infiltrated Republic and Empire, so there is none else we can trust but you. Theron I and Jakarro will lay low and notify you as soon as we have any substantial leads."

After they had agreement of both Ainelly and Kia, Lana urged them to leave so not to make them even a bigger target for Revanites. They had their own role to play just as Lana and Theron had their. Glancing back at the unconscious Sith he asked Lana,

"What should we do with her?"

"Kia said she should wake up soon. I think leaving her behind wouldn't be wise. Should something happen to her Revanites would be the last of our worries" Lana replied looking lost in whatever was on her personal data pad "Would you keep an eye on her? I will go check if our ship is ready."

"I…" Theron started but Lana didn't give him a chance to say whatever he meant because she was already out of the room. Shaking his head, he took a seat close to the Sith and pulled up his own datapad glancing over his unread messages. There was an instant frown appearing on his face as he spotted an unopened message from his mother and father. He was just about to open one when a soft groan to his left made him look up.

"Please don't tell me I fainted…" Aurelia said grudgingly as she attempted to pull herself in a sitting position. He placed his data pad down extending his arm to prevent her from doing any sudden movements,

"Take it easy. Kia said that all the blood loss and exhaustion was too much for your body to handle"

Aurelia snorted pushing her legs to the side of the table,

"It is a miracle my body is even working considering what I put it though."

"Do I even want to know?" he asked skeptically not sure where she was aiming her statement. After she carefully examined her wounded hip she shrugged her shoulders,

"Maybe, to be honest it is a rather interesting story… or stories, but I am not sure if this is the right time." she paused for a moment before looking directly in his eyes and smiling,

"But I was right… you do like me."

"Me like you? Highly unlikely to happen… ever" he responded quickly almost too quickly which made her smile even wider. With a groan he added "You don't mean anything by your statements you just enjoy torturing me."

"Perhaps…"

"Good, you are awake" Lana's voice made them both jump slightly and look in her direction "I am not sure if Theron had a chance to inform you about the situation yet."

"No, I haven't."

"Before we take this any farther I have one question" Aurelia said jumping off the table onto her feet and stretching. Then she pointed at Theron and said "He is cute. Can I keep him?"

The question made Theron choke and Lana roll her eyes as she sighed in reply,

"No, you may not."

"I will leave you two to have your official Imperial debrief or whatever is you guys do…" Theron managed to say before disappearing behind Lana to wait for her at the ship.

"Both Empire and Republic have been infiltrated so there is a handful of people we can trust. Theron was disavowed from SIS and… there is a bounty on my head."

Aurelia frowned weighting Lana's words,

"I can vouch for you in the Dark Council, my word there means something. They all know what I am capable of…"

"That's very kind of you to offer especially after my not so warm welcome to the team, but is one I must ask you not to do."

"You aren't the first person not to like me so I have nothing against you, and why? One of the reasons I am here is to cover your backs."

"That was before we realized that there is so much more at stake, my Lord."

"At least let me help…"

"No, you have to find Wrath, let him know and be on the lookout I will contact you again."


	5. Chapter 5

Aurelia was sitting on her seat watching the rest of council members leave. She was resting her chin on the palm of her hand her eyes sparkling with interest. It was a wonder how they managed to get anything done in the Empire. They were worse than Lana and Theron when it came down to having petty squabbles. Truth be told she did prefer Lana and Theron over other Darth's company. With the corner of her eyes she spotted someone walking towards her. Without having to look at him she said,

"Father"

"I wanted to let you know that Zane and I managed to confirm suspicions that the Emperor still lives. I believe he has changed however, he is not the same man he once were."

"What does Zane say? He is his Wrath is he not?" she asked looking at him while leaning back in her seat. Darth Marr nodded,

"He agrees with me for the most part, but he wants to be sure before he does anything concrete about the situation. I believe he won't be available for few weeks."

"Why do you always have the habit to take my brothers away on some secret missions I can never be a part of?" she pouted taking a sudden interest to examine her nails "They always get all the fun, all I do is listen to morons bicker and growl before me."

"Do not be impatient my daughter, we all have our role to play in the Empire. You already had your fair share and I believe you will be needed soon again, especially if the Emperor decided it is time to end the Empire."

"You may be right…" she agreed absently. The whole day since the meeting started she could feel something in the force. Almost as if someone was trying to contact her but couldn't get through. Then she looked up at her father's face that was always hidden behind a mask "There is something I have to do."

"Very well, we will remain in contact."

"Ashara…" Aurelia called to her apprentice as she entered her ship. She felt the sudden urge to get this force matter resolve with as fast as possible. Her apprentice came in the view walking from her quarters,

"Yes master?"

"Have you… sensed something strange today. Anything at all that is amiss in the force?"

Ashara took several moments before she answered shaking her head,

"I don't believe I have… though there is something else strange going on. Andronikos said that coordinates to Rishi kept getting put into our navi-computer."

"Rishi? I do not believe I am familiar with the system?"

"You wouldn't be" Andronikos said lazily form his position on the sofa "There is nothing but my kind there and pirates don't really feel the need to advertise their turf."

Aurelia tapped her cheek with one of her fingers trying to decide what to do next. Her train of thought was interrupted by a sudden vision occupying her mind. She was not ready for what she was about to see, there was death everywhere, her brothers dead, her father dead her crew as well… everyone that mattered to her at least a bit was laying on the ground dead… taking a sharp breath in she snapped out of it her eyes focusing on Andronikos' worried face before her. He had been holding her up preventing her from collapsing on the floor, Ashara at his side looking equally concerned,

"Master, are you alright?"

Aurelia pushed the pirate away trying not to feel sickened by his sudden closeness. She was still not able to fully forgive him what he had done to her and she wasn't sure if she ever would be.

"Yes, I had a vision; we need to head to Rishi immediately. I think it is a warning of what is about to come."

"Which is?" the pirate asked reluctantly. After sending him a short glance Aurelia sighed,

"Death. Ashara, where are the others?"

"Khem, Talos and Xalek are still away on their missions master, I will notify them immediately about the change of plans. They are expected to return in few days maybe in a week at most."

"You do that, Andronkios you set a course to Rishi."

"Right away… my lord" he said stiffly. She knew he struggled with the formality she asked of him not that it made her feel sorry for him. She had been too generous for letting him stay as a part of her crew after what had happened. Wrinkling her nose at the thought that once she believed she was falling in love with him, she walked into her quarters. She wanted to get some rest before they landed on Rishi.

Few hours later she exited the ship by herself, not wanting to deal with anyone else at the moment. She was never much of a team player and preferred to work alone even after all this time. Teams meant you have to rely on someone while working alone offered her so much more freedom.

She carefully scanned the area searching for something to help her with all this mess. The urgent feeling was still persistent within the force and she knew she had to get it resolved as soon as possible. After some digging around she realized that everyone had her as a leader of a pirate gang named the Howling Tempest. Run in cantina, threatening a worthless scumbag, chasing after a monkey and interrogating a droid later she finally had a substantial lead. She had the supposed coordinates that lead to her benefactor already having suspicions of who that might have been.

As she got closer she saw the familiar figure step out of the shadows. She had seen it on the holo-recording that the blasted monkey stole. Before the figure took off her mask she already sensed it was Lana. Her presence in the force was unmistakable.


End file.
